NFL Crushes NBA In Christmas Day Ratings Despite Poor Matchups And Streaming-Only Broadcasts
Despite Netflix/Prime exclusives and third-string QBs, the NFL’s Christmas Day games dwarfed the NBA’s holiday slate... again.
Since the NFL decided to make Christmas Day games a staple in the annual league schedule, it's been a rough go for the NBA. Basketball used to dominate on December 25, but football is king.
This year, the NFL didn't provide a particularly appetizing slate of games on Christmas. The three divisional matchups looked good before the season started, but all three games featured at least one third-string quarterback and none of the games had much impact on the NFL postseason picture.
Ultimately, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Jayden Daniels-less Washington Commanders in a relatively entertaining game to start the day. Then, Max Brosmer miraculously led the Minnesota Vikings to a shocking upset of the Detroit Lions. Finally, the Denver Broncos held off a feisty Kansas City Chiefs team that was without Patrick Mahomes.
Interestingly, two of the six starting quarterbacks on Christmas Day failed to record even 75 yards passing (Brosmer had just 51 yards and Chris Oladokun threw for 66 yards for the Chiefs). But none of it mattered. It also didn't matter that all three NFL games aired only on streaming services. The two early games aired on Netflix and the nightcap was on Amazon Prime Video.
NFL Draws Massive Christmas Audience
Despite the issues, the league still pulled in big numbers. According to Sports Media Watch, "NFL Christmas Day games averaged 22.9 million viewers across Netflix and Amazon Prime Video… trailing only the past two years as the league’s highest average on the holiday since 2011."
Lions–Vikings averaged 27.5 million viewers on Netflix (a U.S. streaming record) and Cowboys–Commanders averaged 19.9 million. Broncos–Chiefs on Prime Video set a Thursday Night Football high on the platform with 21.1 million viewers.
The NFL’s Christmas tripleheader averaged 22.9 million viewers across Netflix and Prime Video, setting streaming records, while the NBA averaged 5.5 million across ABC/ESPN.
(Imagn Images)
Averaging nearly 23 million viewers across three games that weren't very interesting on paper is a major win for the NFL. The numbers dipped from last season, but those games were headlined by a healthy Patrick Mahomes and a healthy Lamar Jackson.
As for the NBA, the league should be happy with the viewership numbers it got. The five games averaged 5.5 million viewers, which was up 5% from last year per Nielsen (Big Data + Panel).
ESPN/NBA Exaggerate Viewership Numbers
It's important to note that Nielsen changed its methodology between last Christmas and this one, so those numbers are inflated (as are all viewing numbers since the change took effect in September 2025). Actual viewership was likely slightly down from 2024, despite the NFL providing much less competition due to its poor schedule.
We must also note that all five NBA games aired on both ESPN and ABC, meaning far more households had access to the NBA than they did the NFL. Yet, sports fans overwhelmingly found their way to the NFL over the NBA.
Of course, ESPN failed to mention either important caveat in its social media post bragging about NBA ratings. The company did the same thing last year when it vastly overrated its Christmas Day television ratings.
We haven't even mentioned that the NBA loaded its Christmas Day slate with huge brand-name teams (the Knicks, Warriors, Mavericks and Lakers were featured) and big-name stars (LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Kevin Durant, Jalen Brunson, Cooper Flagg, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić, and Anthony Edwards all played).
In other words, the NBA offered the best possible slate that it could and the NFL did not.
The NBA and ESPN keep trying to sell a narrative that the league is fine and Americans still love the NBA. The truth is that the NBA isn't really growing like the other sports leagues (including college basketball).
Part of that is due to the poor on-the-court product and part of that is due to the over-the-top social justice messaging from the league, its players and its coaches.
The NFL showed on Christmas Day what most people already know: Americans love the NFL far more than the NBA. Even when the NFL serves up less-than-ideal matchups, people would rather watch those than the best the NBA has to offer.